Some book recommendations from one of our retired librarians, Carol Gaines, who now volunteers for us

As a retired librarian who now volunteers at the Laurens County Library, I thought I would add a new voice to the library blog, "Book Bag Talk".  Terry's been doing a great job keeping patrons up to date on new additions to the Library collection and I have found a lot of titles that I've added to my "must read" list. 

One of my "duties" as a volunteer has been to come up with displays of books and other materials that may not be new, but may be of interest.  These collections are located close to the shelves where the new adult books are displayed and I hope our patrons will take a look when they are browsing for something to read.

Currently I have two subject areas on display.  The first is a selection of horror/suspense novels under the heading "Stories to Keep You Up All Night".  Some are old, some are more recent, but all should keep you reading far into the night.  Here you'll find selections by Stephen King, John Saul and Bentley Little, of course, but maybe there are some authors you haven't discovered yet.  Did you know that Stephen King's son is now writing horror novels, such as "Horns" and "Heart-Shaped Box" under the name Joe Hill?  Other authors you may not be as familiar with are Guillermo Del Toro, Scott Smith and Kate Wilhelm.  In the suspense area, you will find James Patterson, Lisa Gardner, Christopher Reich and Lee Child among others.

The other display contains titles that come under the general subject area of "memoirs".  Here's a list of some of the authors and titles with a short description of the book:

Dave Eggers.  A Heartbreaking Work ofStaggering Genius.  A "mostly true" account of how Eggers' tries to simultaneously raise his much younger brother after the death of their parents and start a literary magazine along with some buddies.

Mark Doty.  Dog Years.  A moving and intimate memoir interwoven with profound reflections on our feelings for animals and the lessons they teach us about life, love, and loss.

Alice Ozma.  The Reading Promise.  A series of vignettes describes how the author's father challenged himself to read aloud to her for one hundred consecutive nights when she was in fourth grade and together they decided to continue "the streak" until the day she left for college.

Nora Ephron.  I FeelBad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman.  With her disarming, intimate, completely accessible voice, and dry sense of humor, Nora Ephron shares with us her ups and downs in a candid, hilarious look at women who are getting older and dealing with the tribulations of maintenance, menopause, empty nests, and life itself.

Jim Abbott.  Imperfect: An ImprobableLife.  Sports fans and others should enjoy this new autobiography of a one-handed pitcher who became one of the select few to pitch a no-hitter in Major League Baseball.  Abbott explains how he rose above his disability to excel at the sport he loved in high school, college, and adulthood.

These and other memoirs are waiting for you at the Library.  I'm hoping they will whet your appetite for our big fall event "The Amazing Read", when we partner with the Greenville County Library in a community reading of Rick Bragg's memoir "All Over But the Shoutin".  Read more about this in the July/August issue of the Library newsletter.

All these books will be on display for the next week or two.  I hope you will come by and check them out!